Director of Program Operations QUALITYstarsNY

RFCUNY Research Foundation of the City University of New York; United States; Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

RFCUNY Research Foundation of the City University of New York is seeking a strategic, meticulous Director of Program Operations to strengthen systems supporting a dynamic team. This role reports to the Senior Director QUALITYstarsNY and ensures resources, SOPs, and supports drive mission delivery.

Responsibilities include developing collaboration systems, managing travel reimbursements for 60 field staff, aligning with RF CUNY HR policies, and overseeing events and vendor quality controls.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications: Master’s Degree + 5 years in a leadership role with project management and operational work experience.
• Alternative: Bachelor’s Degree + 10 years in a leadership role with project management and operational work experience.
• Excellent organizational and people skills; demonstrated success with cross‑functional projects.
• Experience with procurement and fiscal management.

Responsibilities

• Create and refine internal systems for collaboration, communication, and project management.
• Supervise travel reimbursement processes and support field staff logistics.
• Coordinate with RF CUNY HR policies and central administration.
• Lead planning for annual All Team Summit and regional convenings.
• Ensure access to technology and administrative resources for onsite and remote staff.
• Support engagement with external rating platform vendors and data platforms.
• Plan and implement quality improvement activities across multiple projects.
• Manage talent recruitment, onboarding, and offboarding processes.

Skills

Organizational skills

Project management

People management

Procurement experience

Fiscal management

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Education

Master’s Degree

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s in business/public administration (preferred)

Tools

Office 365

Project management software

Job description

Thank you for considering a career with the Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY). The team at RFCUNY is made up of dedicated, talented professionals committed to providing the services that allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries. We are pleased that you are interested in exploring opportunities to join RFCUNY.

Primary Location: OFFICE OF EXEC VC & UNIVERSITY PROVOST Bargaining Unit: No Mission Children thrive when they spend their most critical years with dedicated, educated, trained, and well-compensated individuals.

The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute leads the work to establish and implement an early childhood workforce system to ensure funding, standards and competencies, career development resources, qualifications and credentials, professional development (training and strengths-based coaching), and program quality assurance and improvement for individuals who work with young children throughout New York.

Housed at the City University of New York, the Institute is a fast-paced, dynamic public/private partnership that is committed to the early childhood workforce and program quality across New York State.

General Description QUALITYstarsNY seeks a strategic and meticulous Director of Program Operations with expertise in strengthening systems to support a dynamic team of remote and onsite staff. Reporting to the Senior Director QUALITYstarsNY, this role will ensure the QUALITYstarsNY team has the resources, standard operating procedures, and supports they need to consistently deliver on its mission.

Duties and Responsibilities

Program Operations

• Create, refine, and support internal systems for collaboration, communication, and project management, as well as support cross-team initiatives and projects, always striving for operational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Supervise and support the travel reimbursement process, refining systems and creating efficiencies where possible, with a particular eye toward the 60 QUALITYstarsNY field staff who travel multiple days per week to support our programs.
• Facilitate communication and support related to RF CUNY HR policies, in collaboration with the Institute central administration team and QUALITYstarsNY team leads.
• Lead operational planning and implementation for QUALITYstarsNY’s annual All Team Summit, four annual Regional Team Convenings, and other events as needed.
• Ensure access to sufficient technology & administrative resources for both onsite and remote staff, working closely with RF CUNY and the Institute central administration team.
• Support staff in engaging with our external rating platform vendor, as well as with organizing workstreams related to in-house development of our data platform.
• Support communication and quality improvement teams in successful planning and implementation of over 50 onsite community engagement endeavors annually, including tabling, registering, responding to RFPs, and more, for conferences and similar endeavors.

Contracts and Purchasing

• Supervise and contribute to the distribution and expense tracking of various quality improvement funds for participating QUALITYstarsNY programs, with approximately $2M and 3,000+ transactions annually.
• Collaborate with the Institute’s Institute central administration team to ensure invoices are reviewed, reconciled, and approved in a timely manner.
• Communicate with vendors about the selection, renewal, contracting, and deliverables.
• Collaborate to forecast needs and align purchasing and workflows with organizational priorities.
• Strengthen systems for record-keeping and reporting, working closely with the Senior Project Associate and Project Assistant and the Institute’s central administration team to ensure system integrity, strong financial controls, and compliance with RF CUNY policies.

Talent Acquisition and Management

• Lead the planning and implementation of talent recruitment, including updating and drafting job descriptions, coordinating all phases of the interview process, and creating and refining related systems as needed.
• Coordinating the onboarding process for new hires, ensuring a clear, welcoming, and collaborative process.
• Coordinate the offboarding process as needed, ensuring clear communication and planning for all affected teammates.
• Supervise Senior Project Associate and Project Assistant who manage purchasing, invoicing, vendor communication, and staff reimbursements.

Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a chief problem solver and caretaker for the QUALITYstarsNY team.
• Support the Senior Director QUALITYstarsNY and Team Leads to manage projects, including coordination and alignment of staff operations, policies, and procedures.
• Collaborate on cross-functional projects to facilitate internal communication flow, overseeing project organization and implementation as needed, ensuring accountability for deliverables through effective and efficient systems.
• Support the Senior Director QUALITYstarsNY in conducting quality assurance of vendors and subcontractors to ensure effective and timely completion of contract deliverables.
• Assist the Senior Director QUALITYstarsNY in responding to requests from researchers, policymakers and the public.
• Participate in staff meetings and trainings as required.
• Perform special projects and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications Master’s Degree + 5 years experience in a leadership role, with project management and operational work experience. OR Bachelor’s Degree + 10 years experience in a leadership role, with project management and operational work experience.
• Excellent organizational and people skills; demonstrated success with managing cross-functional projects.
• Experience with procurement and fiscal management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in business, public administration, policy, or a related field of study
• Flexible and innovative thinker
• Ability to minimize friction and maximize productivity across the team
• Strong relationship-building skills
• Ability to analyze data to inform and improve practices
• Comfort with competing and changing priorities
• Experience exercising judgement and decision‑making
• Strong background with technology to improve work performance, including experience with Office 365 and project management software
• Ability to travel occasionally, including overnight
• Ability to work in midtown‑NYC with a 70% onsite‑remote schedule
• Experience supporting remote workers

Physical Requirements

This position operates in a professional office environment located in Manhattan, NY, and is currently hybrid, working 70% in the office. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as personal computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and presentation equipment. While performing these duties, the employee is required to perform physical activities such as, but not limited to, lifting items (up to 20 pounds), bending, reaching, and sitting for prolonged periods of time. Reasonable accommodation will be made for employees with disabilities or other needs per RFCUNY policies.

Pay Range: $95,000 - $100,000

RFCUNY Benefits

RFCUNY Employee Benefits and Accruals

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement The Research Foundation of the City University of New York is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Act/E-Verify Employer. It is the policy of the Research Foundation of CUNY to provide equal employment opportunities free of discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic violence victim status, arrest record, criminal conviction history, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1963 to provide post-award fiscal and administrative support for CUNY’s research and sponsored programs. RFCUNY’s services allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries, on projects and programs that serve our local and global communities, proposing concrete solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. RFCUNY serves as a fiscal agent and works closely with all the CUNY campus Grants Offices to perform the core functions of post-award financial management for CUNY research projects and sponsored programs. These functions include legal assessment and signing of agreements where RFCUNY is named as a fiscal agent; setting up award accounts; preparing sub-awards and assisting PIs in monitoring the work of the recipients of sub-awards; supporting project directors with hiring and managing research project and sponsored program staff; supporting the purchasing and paying for goods and services with grant and program funds; managing financial aspects of projects including accounts receivable, financial reporting, invoicing, budget monitoring, and cost compliance with uniform guidance; ensuring that sponsor financial requirements are met; monitoring compliance with applicable project and financial management rules and laws; and supporting the management of independent and external audits and financial reviews; and providing data, information, management expertise, and other supports to CUNY’s research and sponsored programs.